Fears of the Past, Advice for the Future
by Silver-ShadowSpark
Summary: Little Sylvia Telcontar has a nightmare and Legolas comforts her.


Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings. It belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien. No money is being made off of this story; it is being written purely for entertainment. Elvéwen, Ran, and Tray belong to Cassia. Thank you for letting me use them.

Summery: Little Sylvia Telcontar has a nightmare and Legolas comforts her.

Author's note: Please read and review. Constructive critisism welcome, flames will be used to roast marshmallows

Fears from the Past, Advice for the Future

By Silver-ShadowSpark

Twelve-year-old Sylvia Telcontar sat up with a soft cry. Eyes wide, she looked around at the trees surrounding the place that Legolas had chosen for the two of them to camp that night. She froze as she heard movement from behind her. Turning, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Legolas walking toward her, a concerned look on his face.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "I heard you cry out. What happened?" Legolas sighed and knelt to look into her face. He had an inkling as to what had happened. 'She probably had another nightmare. She's been having them almost every night lately. This is not healthy for her. She is going to get sick if this doesn't stop.'

Embarrassed, Sylvia stared down at her hands. "I had a nightmare," she mumbled. At Legolas' scrutinizing look, she sighed and continued. "It's the same one I've been having for the last three weeks."

"Syl, tell me," Legolas said gently.

Sylvia smiled at the use of her nickname, then her face fell and she sighed again. "Alright, I'll tell you."

_Dream:_

_Sylvia walks into the hallway leading to the throne room. She is answering the note that says her father wants to see her. The note says it is urgent. As she reaches the doors to the throne room she wonders what is going on. Everything is too quiet. Warily she opens the doors and walks inside._

_Inside the throne room Sylvia sees her whole family waiting for her. She smiles and walks towards them, but just as she is about to take her father's hand, there is a bright flash of light that seems to come from all around her, and she has to cover her eyes to keep from being blinded. When the light finally subsides and she opens her eyes, the sight she sees makes her tremble with fear._

_The throne room is dark and full of shadowy black clouds. Where Sylvia's family had been standing there are now only statues that explode into dust as she reaches towards them. Her body shakes as tears spill from her eyes._

"_No… don't go… please don't leave me alone…" she whimpers._

"_**You are alone. You will always be alone,"**__ a cold voice speaks as the shadows close in around her._

"_No…I'm not. I'm not alone." _

"_**Yes, you are and always will be."** The voice has a cold strength in it that makes Sylvia shudder._

"_No…" Her defiance weakens._

"_**Yessss. You are mine."** The cruel laugh echos around her as she crumples to the ground._

"_NOOOOOOOO!"_

_End of Dream_

When Sylvia had finished telling Legolas about her dream, she took a deep breath and let it out in a shaky sigh. She gasped and stiffened briefly when Legolas pulled her into a hug, then she broke down and wept. Legolas simply held her while she cried herself out, rocking her gently.

When she at last quieted down, he cupped her face in his hand and forced her to look into his eyes. He saw the shame and fear in her eyes and it reminded him of the way he had felt after his friends had laughed at him when he had spoken of his own night terrors when he was young. He remembered the words his mother had told him and decided that the best way to help Sylvia was to tell her his story and give her the advice his own mother had given him.

"Being alone is nothing to be afraid of," he began.

"B-but-" Sylvia started to protest, but Legolas cut her off.

"Listen to me. I have a story to tell you." Sylvia tilted her head questioningly and Legolas laughed.

"In Mirkwood, we have the _Mánu_ festival every forty human years. This story takes place when I was about the equivalent of your age. It was my second _Mánu_ festival…"

o

_A long time ago_

o

Legolas was pulling on his sleep tunic when he heard a knock at his door. Sighing, he walked over and opened the door. Elvéwen smiled at her son as she walked into the room.

"Did you enjoy the festival, _ion-nín_?" she asked.

"Yes, I guess so," he replied.

"What's wrong Legolas? You seem down."

"I've been having bad dreams," Legolas said reluctantly.

"And your friends were too caught up in the festival to listen?"

"I tried to tell Ran and Tray, but they just laughed and told me to stop being a baby."

"Tell me."

"I keep running through the corridors looking for people…"

"And…"

"I can never find anyone. I'm always alone." Tears were falling from Legolas' eyes now.

Elvéwen gave Legolas a small smile. "Is that what you are afraid of? Being alone?"

"Y… yes," Legolas whimpered.

"Listen _ion-nín_," She said. You will never be alone. This is the reason…"

o

_The Present_

o

"So you see Sylvia," Legolas finished the story. "As my _Nàneth _told me, we are never alone and the ones we love never really leave us," Legolas took Sylvia's hand and placed it over her heart and placed his hand on top of hers. "We can always find them, in here."

"R… really?" Sylvia asked.

Legolas smiled and nodded. "Really," he confirmed.

"So the dream will go away?"

"Probably not immediately but they will go away."

Sylvia smiled. "Good."

The sun was peaking over the trees of Ithilien and into the clearing.

"Come on, let's get something to eat."

The two beings got up, had breakfast, packed up camp, and moved on through the trees, heading for the next stop on their journey. And, true enough, Sylvia had no more nightmares.

_The End_


End file.
